Workflow suggestions for multiple transfer decals?

[MGB_LE]

We are low low volume Summa users, until a handful of decal jobs came through our shop. We have 1000 cut lettering decals, 13"w x 2"h, cutting out of Avery tangerine vinyl.
We can run through GoSign for the contour cutting, and even to final trim size, but how to best get them trimmed down to final size and apply transfer tape? Surely we don't want to apply transfer tape to 1000 of these decals individually. What's the best workflow to trim these and apply transfer tape?

 

[weyandsign]

Tape the entire sheet, then cut them into long strips/rows. Then use a paper cutter to cut them individually.

 

[White Haus]

Yep. Cut, weed, add premask, trim into strips then singles with a guillotine.

Or cut 99% through your first cut for all the rows, rotate sheet then cut right through on other axis.

 

[Stacey K]

I do the same thing as weyandsign. When you print, Take into consideration your masking size. Mine is 24" wide and I print 54" wide so I lay it out so I can cut down the middle of the 54" and mask two long sheets like maybe 8' long. Then trim everything down as stated above. If you don't have a paper cutter, order a cheap one on amazon trust me, way easier and way faster than a scissor. I have something like this and it's primarily used for cutting decals apart.

https://www.amazon.com/Capacity-Guillotine-Trimmers-Cardstock-Cardboard/dp/B0BB27B3FB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3IZNUMXMH7S36&keywords=paper+cutter&qid=1699031171&sprefix=paper+cutte%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-6

 

[JBurton]

Summa flatbed? Why not include registration marks in your vinyl, cut lettering, weed, apply mask, mark registration through mask (or remove mask that is over reg marks, then run just the perimeter cuts on the flatbed.

 

[MGB_LE]

Summa flatbed? Why not include registration marks in your vinyl, cut lettering, weed, apply mask, mark registration through mask (or remove mask that is over reg marks, then run just the perimeter cuts on the flatbed.

Summa T160 S2 vinyl cutter, not flatbed.

 

[MGB_LE]

I do the same thing as weyandsign. When you print, Take into consideration your masking size. Mine is 24" wide and I print 54" wide so I lay it out so I can cut down the middle of the 54" and mask two long sheets like maybe 8' long. Then trim everything down as stated above. If you don't have a paper cutter, order a cheap one on amazon trust me, way easier and way faster than a scissor. I have something like this and it's primarily used for cutting decals apart.

https://www.amazon.com/Capacity-Guillotine-Trimmers-Cardstock-Cardboard/dp/B0BB27B3FB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3IZNUMXMH7S36&keywords=paper+cutter&qid=1699031171&sprefix=paper+cutte%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-6

So this is cut vinyl, and there's no printing involved. We're just cutting the letters and logo out of a 48" wide roll. They're 13" x 2" roughly, so I figured 3 across the 48". I have a 54" roll of transfer tape, which I could trim down to 48" to match the vinyl. Maybe we run the roll of vinyl through our laminator to apply the premask, then run the roll through the Summa?

 

[JBurton]

You'd get a lot more mileage out of your material running them 2" across the 48" side, at 13" your losing 7"!

 

[MGB_LE]

You'd get a lot more mileage out of your material running them 2" across the 48" side, at 13" your losing 7"!

True; I was doubtful that the Summa could kiss cut and through cut them with that orientation.

 

[Stacey K]

So this is cut vinyl, and there's no printing involved. We're just cutting the letters and logo out of a 48" wide roll. They're 13" x 2" roughly, so I figured 3 across the 48". I have a 54" roll of transfer tape, which I could trim down to 48" to match the vinyl. Maybe we run the roll of vinyl through our laminator to apply the premask, then run the roll through the Summa?

This is what I would do because I have yet to use my kiss-cut feature. I would cut sheets at a time that I can handle easily. No need to cut your masking down ahead just mask it with the overlap and cut it down after. I don't like to cut more than 4-6' feet at a time if I can help it. Then as the other sheets are cutting I can get the previous one cut, weeded and masked. Do you have a teenager at home? They LOVE cutting down the decals - NOT but I make mine do it anyway LOL

 

[JBurton]

You could even add gaps between the decals where the rollers would ride, allowing it to not slip when it transitions over an already kisscut sticker.

 

[ikarasu]

On graphtec I usually do a "print and cut" so it has the registration marks.... Then I cut them out with the registration marks. Weed it... Pre mask it, use the "printed" registration marks to put it back in and perf cut it.
I'm sure there's a way to do it on summa as well, but I haven't used one in forever so no idea.... Should be easy enough though. Or worst case just print an empty file with registration marks, our printer ignores white space, so it'd take like 30 mins to print a full roll of registration marks.

 

[JBurton]

ourborintersnignorenwhite space

I'm.... I just can't. Tried 3 times now.

 

[gnubler]

I'm.... I just can't. Tried 3 times now.

It's Canadian for "get me a beer"

 

[ikarasu]

I'm.... I just can't. Tried 3 times now.

Haha... Funny thing is I started proof reading my posts before hitting reply because I fatfinger a lot on my new phone.

I read about 80% of it.... Said good enough and hit enter. Stopped right before that one... Fixed now!

 

[MGB_LE]

This project has come back, and I'm still struggling with an order of 40 qty. Please evaluate my suggested workflow:

We have a Summa S2 T160, and a Colex Sharpcut flatbed cutter. We have a 62” wide laminator available.

We have repeat jobs for cut vinyl tailgate transfer decals. These are a URL that is 29” x 4” on a 48” roll of colored vinyl.

There are door transfer decals are 29.9” x 9” color print and contour cut on a 54” roll of white vinyl. Both are for 40-100 copies or more each order.

3M 54” transfer tape is what we apply.

The door decals -could- come off the printer with a Summa barcode AND 3 registration dots for the Colex.

The tailgate decals are just kiss cut vinyl with no barcode, but we could kiss cut 3 registration dots for the Colex.



The struggle is how best to stage the workflow for weeding, then applying the transfer tape and then trimming to final size.



My initial thoughts:

Door decals:

Print batches of 6 decals on a 54 x31” sheet for ease of handling. Kiss cut on the Summa. Weed the full sheet, then apply transfer tape using the laminator.

Remove transfer tape from the Colex dots if necessary, then have it perform final trim. Decals are ready for boxing.



Tailgate decals: Kiss cut batches of 20 decals on a 48x40” sheet for ease of handling. Kiss cut on the Summa. Weed the full sheet, then apply transfer tape using the laminator.

Remove transfer tape from the Colex dots if necessary, then have it perform final trim. Decals are ready for boxing.


I wonder if that’s the easiest way to handle this?



I appreciate your feedback.

 

[JBurton]

I wonder if that’s the easiest way to handle this?

Sounds like a fair plan, a couple of notes:
Colex uses an optiscout setup, right? It really likes to have black for the registration circles. Uncertain how it would work with orange/white. You can manually position it though.
Why use the laminator to apply the mask? If you're cutting them into sheets, then IMO it would be faster to mask by hand. All on the same roll would be ideal.
I'd strive to keep each set of decals on a roll, unreel and reel up onto a new roll as you go, I have a device similar to this one, works well to set the full roll on and the roll off as much as needed at a time, like the area you're weeding in this case, then roll back up on the other end of the table. (I'd probably roll up by hand to avoid anything coming loose and sticking to the rollers.
Again, sheet size would be a cost issue for me, the plotter needs something like 3" on either side of the registration marks, or 1.5" either side of a 'sheet' of stickers.

 

[MGB_LE]

Sounds like a fair plan, a couple of notes:
Colex uses an optiscout setup, right? It really likes to have black for the registration circles. Uncertain how it would work with orange/white. You can manually position it though.
Why use the laminator to apply the mask? If you're cutting them into sheets, then IMO it would be faster to mask by hand. All on the same roll would be ideal.
I'd strive to keep each set of decals on a roll, unreel and reel up onto a new roll as you go, I have a device similar to this one, works well to set the full roll on and the roll off as much as needed at a time, like the area you're weeding in this case, then roll back up on the other end of the table. (I'd probably roll up by hand to avoid anything coming loose and sticking to the rollers.
Again, sheet size would be a cost issue for me, the plotter needs something like 3" on either side of the registration marks, or 1.5" either side of a 'sheet' of stickers.

Hi and thanks for the feedback. The colored vinyl is black, rather than orange, this time around. Since our vinyl is 48" wide, and our mask is 54" wide, i figured the best way to apply it consistently across the sheet is by using the laminator. We were considering a way to have the sheet contain the entire batch. So if the order is for 40 tailgate decals, we'd do 40 on that sheet if it fits. The door decals are larger and twice as many per order as the tailigate decals, so maybe all on a roll would be better.

 

[JBurton]

i figured the best way to apply it consistently across the sheet is by using the laminator.

It probably would give a more consistent result, and I guess depending on the flatbed, might be necessary to go that route to avoid any slight distortions.
For the dots on black, IDK if you can invert the color selection, that should be simple from the programming side of things, but you may want to make 1" boxes with .25" circles within, to weed the box and leave the circle.
Just another thought, often times it's simpler to eat the cost of a print material vs running two different processes. Something like vehicle kits could easily be batched into 2 doors and 1 tailgate each, within a 24"x29.9" area, run two sets at a time side by side, you'd have enough room for registration marks if you're using a 54" roll. Add the colex marks in an unprinted region, then print, laminate, plot, weed, mask, colex, profit!